Quandaries and Queries
 

 

I am a parent and aunt of a 5th grader.

My nephew has asked me what the equivalent decimal is of 0.4.  Does he change it to a fraction or just add a zero either before or after?
Thank you
Cindy

 

 

Hi Cindy,

Chris sent me this response to your question

Might they mean 0.399999...? If so the question should be stated better: something about a different yet equivalent repeating decimal.

Chris is correct, 0.4 = 0.399999···, however this is something that I wouldn't expect a 5th grader to know. My guess is that the question should say "What is an equivalent fraction of 0.4?" and the answer expected is 4/10 or 2/5.

Harley